Japan’s hotel occupancy rate is estimated to be 70.88 million visitors in March, an eight per cent increase from the previous period and a new record for overseas tourists visiting the country, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

Currently, foreign visitors account for 14.3 per cent of the total 494.18 million hotel stays reported for the period. The report also takes into account domestic tourists.

The growth reflects the government’s success in attracting foreign tourists—a record 24 million visitors in 2016.

Hotel stays in places outside Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya also rose 13.2 per cent, overtaking the 4.8 per cent increase in these three major metropolitan areas.

This spells good news for wooden construction since this will certainly increase the demand for lodging in the local regions of Japan, said Kevin Bews, SPF manager at Canada Wood. Land prices tend to be cheaper out of the major cities, making low and medium-rise wooden hotels and resorts more competitive, compared to the way most of these buildings are currently being constructed in this country.